VICE NEWS interview: I have seen reports of women brought in from Iraq as slaves, mainly Yezidi girls. That's not true, it's just propaganda. Do the women of the Al-Khansa brigades execute people too, or do they just carry weapons, but hand over people to the men of the group? They just hand them to the men. They lash women, they take them to prison. Things like that, but they don't make executions. How are Raqqa's women, your sisters, or other relatives, reacting to all this? Women now cannot say "no." The worst things that happened in Raqqa happened to women. Now the Al-Khansa brigades are even telling women, "you cannot wear colorful shoes, it's haram. Just black shoes." Now a lot of them are trying to find girls to marry ISIS fighters. They are now telling women who want to marry ISIS fighters to wear a white veil under the black veil, so they can recognize them. But no women want that, they don't like ISIS. Are any women being forced to marry ISIS guys? Not by ISIS, but some of the fathers are forcing their daughters to marry ISIS fighters, because of the money and power they have. In one case, a girl called Fatima, she was 18, when her father forced her to marry an ISIS fighter from Tunisia, she committed suicide. The other girl, I don't remember her name, her father also forced her to marry a Tunisian fighter from ISIS and she ended up in the hospital because of… how can I say it… sexual violence. You have mentioned Tunisian fighters a lot. Are there many? You know, fighters from Morocco, Tunisia and so on, they want to marry Syrian girls. But fighters from the UK, US and so on, they prefer to bring their own or just marry another foreigner, from Sweden, and Holland. They keep to themselves. There's like a wall between them and the people of Raqqa because there is no language, the people don't like them, they are taking all the good houses and money from the people, and all of these things. Who is in charge? Mostly foreigners? Or mostly Iraqis or Syrians? Most of them are Iraqis and Tunisians. But mostly Iraqis. How was Raqqa before ISIS, and before the war, especially for women? Were they able to work? It was a normal city like any other city in the world. There were female doctors, lawyers, teachers. There were a lot of women who weren't even wearing hijabs. It was a mixed city, there were mixed marriages, mixed cafes, mixed restaurants. It was a normal city like any city in the world. Are women allowed to work at all now? No, just the teachers, and they are not allowed to teach boys over 6 years. Are any girls still going to school? There has been no school or education since ISIS has taken the city. No universities, no school, no nothing at all. They said they want to make new, special books, and special schools, but until now there is nothing at all, and they say that teachers must take special lessons from ISIS to be allowed to teach and those who don't won't be allowed. This week, the Islamic State publicly executed Samira Salih al-Nuaimi, an Iraqi women's rights activist, in Mosul. Have women's rights advocates in Raqqa faced the same backlash? Most of the women in Raqqa now are just at home. They do nothing. Are there any underground organizations, or groups like yours? There are almost no activists. Do you think they are looking for the woman that took this video? I think she's now in Turkey, because her face shows in the video. I think she will not go back to Raqqa. Are you afraid for your family in Raqqa, because of the work you do? Sure. A week ago, they went to the home of one member of our group who's in Turkey, searching for him, and they said to his father, "If your boy does not stop talking about us, that will be a big problem for you." Related Articles: Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently (2/4) interview Related Articles: Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently (1/4)
1 Comment
Jenny
28/9/2014 03:58:07
Thank you for sharing this with us
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